Tire Plant Achieves 10.1% Energy Reduction Over 3 Years

Cooper Tire’s Texarkana, Ark., plant received Gold level certification from the US Department of Energy for achieving a 10.1 percent energy savings improvement over three years.

Cooper Tire Plant Engineer Craig Lloyd said the savings in the 2-million-sq-foot plant were achieved through a variety of means, including lighting upgrades, optimizing equipment speeds, fixing leaks, and training the staff about start-up and shut-down habits.

“It’s important to make sure people, as they leave their workstations, that they shut things down. The way you get that is to form an energy team and get employee involvement,” said Lloyd. Having a certified energy manager to oversee the project was also key, he said.

Cooper Tire’s Energy Manager Ken Leary, who led the audit to a successful outcome, has some advice for other energy managers undertaking such a project: “Make sure you maintain good records, documenting all energy actions taken.”

It’s difficult after the project starts to come up with the baseline start data, he said. Cooper Tire used an excel spreadsheet as its energy log to document everything.

The energy management system at the Cooper Tire manufacturing facility has been certified as meeting requirements of both ISO 50001:2011 and ANSI/MSE 50021:2012, which makes the plant a Superior Energy Performance Gold Certified Partner as promoted by the US DoE.

The Superior Energy Performance certification program for U.S. industrial facilities and commercial buildings is awarded to facilities that improve energy performance by more than 5 percent.

ISO 50001:2011 specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an energy management system, and it specifies requirements applicable to energy use and consumption, including measurement, documentation and reporting, design and procurement practices for equipment, systems, processes and personnel that contribute to energy performance.

Sid, the reduction for SEP is calculated based on source energy, not site. So managing your electricity usage will provide a bonus up front. But you can’t ignore any energy source; thermal energy would likely be a good target for their continual improvement efforts, as required under ISO 50001.